Sweet Death: High Fructose Corn Syrup by Tana Amen, BSN, RN

If you’ve ever tasted the dessert “Death by Chocolate” you probably were not thinking about just how accurately this food is named while you took each bite! But, even if you did and you vowed to eat “low-fat” or “fat-free” alternatives instead, I have really sad news for you.
Since Americans became obsessed with the idea of eating a low-fat diet nearly 30 years ago, we actually have become fatter than ever! We also have become sicker than ever! In this time, we have seen an alarming rise in the incidence of stroke, heart disease, liver disease, and diabetes . . . including juvenile diabetes. How has this happened?
When the American Heart Association began the campaign to decrease fat in the American diet, Madison Avenue saw the opportunity and jumped on the bandwagon. The era of “Fat-Free Foods” was born. Unfortunately, fat-free foods tasted, at best, like warmed-over recycled food, and, at worst, like cardboard. Food manufacturers then figured out that they could make low-fat and fat-free foods palatable if they added enough sugar and salt.
Even worse, the food manufacturers learned that high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is both cost-effective and able to make low-fat and fat-free foods retain the properties that most closely resemble their fat-filled cousins. If you take the time to read the labels of most of the processed foods you touch in the grocery store, you likely will be surprised at some of the foods that contain HFCS. It seems that it is in nearly everything . . . including processed meats and nearly all breads, cereals, condiments, crackers, popcorn, and other processed foods. Many fast food restaurants even add HFCS to their hamburgers!
But, if adding HFCS means that our foods are now fat free or low fat, why are we getting fatter and sicker than ever? To understand why, we must first understand the physiological effects of sugar on the body.
“But isn’t fructose the sugar from fruit? That should be good for me . . . right?”
Actually, too much sugar of any kind is detrimental to your health. But here are a few facts about fructose:
The Damaging Effects of Too Much “UNWRAPPED” Fructose:

  • Insulin resistance
  • Obesity
  • Metabolic Syndrome (making it extremely difficult to lose weight, even when dieting)
  • High cholesterol (especially the bad one, LDL)
  • High triglycerides
  • Uric acid formation (which leads to hypertension and gout)
  • Non-alcoholic fatty liver

Fructose also speeds up aging through a process known as “Advanced Glycation End products” or AGEs.
To understand this process, picture the way that sugar browns as it is heated. Fructose does the same thing in your body! Fructose forms AGEs seven times faster than glucose. These AGEs stick to proteins in your body and cause atherosclerosis and even wrinkles! So, if you want to avoid plastic surgery, avoid fructose!
NERD NOTE!
For a great education about fructose metabolism, watch Dr. Robert Lustig’s lecture, “The Bitter Truth,” on YouTube.
For more information about Tana Amen, and her book “The OMNI Diet,” go to http://www.tanaamen.com.